Month: June 2010

The Journal Times reported trade talks between Milwaukee and the Warriors, with the Golden State sending Corey Maggette to the Bucks in exchange for center Dan Gadzuric and guard Charlie Bell. Sources have confirmed for me that the talks exist and the Warriors are interested.

The Warriors would love nothing more than to trade up in the draft and lock up one of these elite talents. Problem is, nobody wants to trade down to No. 6 in a five-player draft. And if they do, they want the No. 6 and the Warriors’ right arm (namely Stephen Curry or Anthony Randolph), which is too much to give up for a prospect.

So, the Warriors can’t move up to get the guy in this draft who I think is the best fit: Evan Turner, who is the versatile and skilled small forward (or shooting guard) who has the size and playmaking ability they need to round out their perimeter. Nor will they be able to get the beast they need inside in Derrick Favors, who is a rebounding machine and would instantly become the biggest physical presence on the Warriors frontline. Nor can they get the guy they want in Wesley Johnson, who would give them a legit SF (not a SG playing out of position) who significantly raises the athleticism on the wing.

So, they wait, and hope. For Cousins, who just might have the biggest immediate impact in the draft.

Manute Bol died this morning at the University of Virginia Hospital in Charlottesville, Va. He was 47.

He was hospitalized on May 12 with acute kidney failure and a skin disease known as Stevens-Johnsons Syndrome. Bol’s friend, Tom Pritchard, announced Bol’s passing in a facebook message this morning. Pritchard is the executive director of Sudan Sunrise, an organization fighting revive war-ravaged Sudan, Bol’s native country.

Bol, the tallest player in NBA history at 7-foot-7, played two seasons for the Warriors (1988-89, 89-90) before returning in 1994-95, when he played just five games. In his first season with the Warriors, he averaged 4.3 blocks and knocked down 20 3-pointers with a famous over-the-shoulder set shot. Bol led the league in blocks that year, as he did his rookie season (1985-86) and ranks 14th in NBA history with 2,086 blocks.

The last several years, Bol has been an ambassador for good, especially in Africa. He exhausted his NBA earnings and risked his life effecting change in Sudan through peace efforts and educating children. Even while hospitalized, he was raising $18,000 to put a roof on a school under construction in Sudan.

He spent his entire basketball fortune and survived attacks on his life to save and improve lives in and around Sudan. He lost hundreds of family members in an ongoing war but saved or educated at least that many with peacemaking efforts.

The Warriors have changed their logo to a modern take on the old City logo, which was the same colors but had the cable car on the inside. I am much more a fan of forward movement instead of all the nostalgia. Old logos and uniforms are tight because they are historic. Bringing them back makes them no longer historic, and lose their appeal. It’s like Digital Underground. When I hear Humpty Hump, I get juiced because it is a classic. It reminds me of fun times back in the day. But if Digital Underground came out with an album, I wouldn’t want to hear it – unless it was innovative and new.

With that said, I think the uniforms – if they are anything like the logo – will be cool, in a Boston Celtics kind of way. Simple. Classic. Would be hot if they threw some black in it.